Gensler New York Expands EnTrust Capital HQ

Gensler’s New York office had already executed a winning scheme for the Manhattan headquarters of EnTrust Capital, a hedge fund helmed by a sophisticated art collector. The 17,500-square-foot space—featuring curved snow-white Corian workstations, swirly ceiling panels of mirror-polished stainless steel, tinted micro-topped concrete flooring, and walls paneled in orange polyester-resin lacquer—so successfully broke out of the conventional cubicle-and-carpet corporate office mold that Interior Design devoted 10 pages to it in its September 2011 issue.

Three years later, the space still looked great—and the company was going gangbusters. When 7,300 square feet on the floor below became available to accommodate the growing staff, with the possibility of further expansion on that level in the future, EnTrust enlisted Gensler for a return engagement. “The client wanted the lower level to feel as important, and as artful, as the upper space,” Gensler design director and principal Edward Wood says.

Wood and his team designed a spiral staircase to connect the two floors, specifying materials that provide continuity with the original space. The same Corian sheeting that sheathes workstations was heat-bent to wrap the stair’s heavy steel core. Banisters are polished chrome, echoing the aforementioned ceiling swirls. Dangling down the center of the staircase is a chandelier designed by Lindsey Adelman that serves as a bold focal point. Polished-chrome sockets and platinum-glazed glass spikes are supported by a framework powder-coated the same orange used as an accent color throughout the office.

On the lower level, the staircase cantilevers out dramatically. For now, its sculptural form can be seen by staffers seated at a new bank of desks and an adjacent meeting area. If the firm expands again and ultimately captures the entire floor, even more employees will be able to feast their eyes on what can rightly be viewed as the client’s latest addition to its art collection.